Collins crushes caucus vote

Written By: - Date published: 9:06 pm, July 14th, 2020 - 155 comments
Categories: Judith Collins, national, same old national, uncategorized - Tags:

Twitter confirms that Judith Collins is now National leader.  She is the perfect candidate if your goal is to stem the bleeding of support.  She is not the candidate if you want to win the election …

Update:  And Gerry Brownlee is deputy!  Happy days!

155 comments on “Collins crushes caucus vote ”

  1. James 1

    Yes!!!!!!!!

    Great News. This will be interesting.

    • Robert Guyton 1.1

      James! This is great news! You might win!!!

    • Draco T Bastard 1.2

      If true then its awesome.

      Collins is likely to see National support plummet below what Blinglish achieved in 2002.

      • James 1.2.1

        Yeah – confident that won’t happen.

        • Stuart Munro 1.2.1.1

          Certainly Judith is a more coherent choice – Bill was not a natural leader. Gerry as number two is an interesting choice – quite a lot of Christchurch people think Gerry is number two already.

      • Enough is Enough 1.2.2

        You really don't understand National voters if you think that Draco

        • Draco T Bastard 1.2.2.1

          It's not really the National voters that I'm concerned with. They'll vote National no matter what.

    • francesca 1.3

      Evil stepmother and Billy Bunter yaroo vs Jacinda .It's like a fairy tale

      And still they're on about cutting taxes.

    • Cinny 1.4

      Really happy for you James, you'll be fizzing 🙂

  2. Byd0nz 2

    Sick party, sick choice no doubt a sick slogan will follow.

  3. Anker 3

    She was the predictable choice for National. Possibly didn’t have finger prints on Boag leak.

    she may stem the tide and pinch that 4% back from AcT. enjoying living in a covid free country James? All thanks to Ardern and labour

    • Robert Guyton 3.1

      ACT? Goneburger!

      Sad.

      • georgecom 3.1.1

        Not sad at all. James is correct. National will hold on to enough votes to make ACT need to win Epsom to get back in and not enough to promote Goldsmith to parliament n the party list. She is a perfect candidate to see National v Act fighting for the scraps. She will stop National slipping into oblivion but is anathema to enough people that she wont save them from defeat. The perfect leader ay James

    • James 3.2

      Yep. I’m all good. But jacinda and co are going to have more than that to hang their hats on.

      crusher is going to hammer home all the mammoth failures of this government- of which there are plenty.

      • Just Is 3.2.1

        What dimension of reality do you live in?

        Collins is no different from Bridges and how did that end

        • James 3.2.1.1

          Just is – if you can’t tell them apart – just shows your lack of political knowledge. Bless.

        • Cinny 3.2.1.2

          Just Is, James has adored judith for a long time. He's been telling us for years she is the only choice.

          I don't agree with him, but I respect his adoration, it's quite cute.

      • Draco T Bastard 3.2.2

        crusher is going to hammer home all the mammoth failures of this government- of which there are plenty.

        You truly are delusional.

        1. This government hasn't made any failures. Mistakes that they've learned from, sure. Failures – No. Only National and their sycophants have those because they invariably fail to learn from their mistakes.
        2. NZ really is sick of National's Dirty Politics and its really starting to show. Continuance of that Dirty Politics, as you obviously want, will just drop the support even further.

        At the rate that things are going for National ACT may actually end up out-polling them

        • James 3.2.2.1

          “You truly are delusional.This government hasn't made any failures.”

          tour first two sentences are the funniest thing I have ever seen on this blog.

          nice to see that there is someone that doesn’t see kiwibuild as a failure. (Are you sure your not Twyford)?

        • Herodotus 3.2.2.2

          If things are the same in 2022 – We know that not only did NZ wasted another 3 years but I suspect that we will have gone backwards. I hope that isn't the case But I can see Labour being risk averse and like 2002 and 2011, the sitting governments did what was required to maintain power and with weak opposition didn't want to do anything more than "MANAGE"

          https://www.newsroom.co.nz/is-the-pm-a-transformer-or-just-a-manager

          When she was campaigning to be Prime Minister in August and early September 2017, she was reasonably clear about being transformational. She wanted a capital gains tax, an Auckland Light Rail Line, 100,000 Kiwibuild houses, real climate change action to respond to her generation's 'nuclear free moment', and welfare reform.

          • Bearded Git 3.2.2.2.1

            Sounds like Jacinda would love a lab/gr government then.

            • Herodotus 3.2.2.2.1.1

              Only capital gains lack of delivery could be due to NZ1, the others perhaps lack of understanding on how to implement ? And we have lost 3 years to see any delivery of results. Fine for a politician to see 3 wasted years but the rest of us to have to wait at least another 3 years that is if they are ever to be delivered on.

        • Paddington 3.2.2.3

          Oh come on. All governments have failures. Your claim is just silly. Beyond silly.

          Kiwisaver is arguably the greatest public policy failure in NZ's history.

          Then theres the failed promise to house all the homeless within 4 weeks (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/04/jacinda-ardern-pledges-shelter-for-all-homeless-people-within-four-weeks).

          The promise to reduce child poverty. (https://www.cpag.org.nz/news/latest-child-poverty-stats-a-wake-up-call/)

          …and so on…

          • Drowsy M. Kram 3.2.2.3.1

            "Kiwisaver is arguably the greatest public policy failure in NZ's history."

            And that's a 'fine line' to take when you choose to focus on failure.

            I would rather focus on what is arguably the greatest public policy success in NZ's history. "We don't know how lucky we are…" – well, some of us don't.

            This latest choice of a Nat 'leadership' team shows that, amazingly, the caucus really still doesn’t have a clue as to why their brand is so badly tainted. Either that, or they just don't care anymore.

            • Paddington 3.2.2.3.1.1

              I mentioned failure because I was responding to Draco's claim that "This government hasn't made any failures". Are you suggesting Kiwibuild was not a failure?

              Now if I had been responding to a post about successes, I would have said "all governments have successes" (which is true) and then listed some of them.

              • Drowsy M. Kram

                "Are you suggesting Kiwibuild was not a failure?"

                Your comment @3.2.2.3 (that I replied to @3.2.2.3.1) didn't mention "Kiwibuild", so at the risk of getting into an argument, could you indicate clearly why you asked if I was suggesting that? I mean, Kiwisaver is a success in my books – Kiwibuild not so much.

                We don’t know how lucky we are in this country

                • Paddington

                  No, but my comment focused on 'failure', because I was responding to Draco's commment about failure. You seem troubled that I would repsond to a comment about failure by discussing failure.

                  • Drowsy M. Kram

                    No, I'm troubled that you (@ 3.2.2.3.1.1 ) would ask me "Are you suggesting Kiwibuild was not a failure?", when I patently suggested no such thing.

                    My reply to your comment asked if you could indicate clearly why you had asked me that question. Maybe even a little honesty was too much to hope for – pretty much sums up the Nats when you think about it.

                    We don’t know how lucky we are in this country

                    • Paddington

                      You said " And that's a 'fine line' to take when you choose to focus on failure. " in response to my comment, which was replying to a comment about failure. Why would you question my focus on failure in replying to a comment about failure?

                    • Drowsy M. Kram

                      I'm frankly amazed that you (still) don't get this – it's very simple.

                      In response to my first comment in this thread (where I said I would rather focus on success), you asked me "Are you suggesting Kiwibuild was not a failure?" There's no wriggle room; that was your question to me.

                      I responded with "…could you indicate clearly why you asked if I was suggesting that?" I asked that question (of you) because that was patently not what I was suggesting – I hadn't mentioned "Kiwibuild" in my first comment, and neither did that word appear in your comment (@ 3.2.2.3, criticising Kiwisaver) which had prompted my first comment. You were, in effect, putting words in my mouth, and that's dishonest (get ready for heaps more of the same folks).

                      Maybe I could say it more clearly than that, but I can't be bothered. You're commenting here in bad faith, IMHO, and I'll have no more to do with you, except to say:

                      "We don’t know how lucky we are in this country" – had a haircut this morning and no-one was wearing a mask – OUTSTANDING!

                      Mind you, if Labour or National or the Greens made a good (faith) case for wearing a mask, then I’d consider it.

          • Craig H 3.2.2.3.2

            Kiwisaver? That's a Cullen policy, and is one of his finest achievements.

          • Draco T Bastard 3.2.2.3.3

            All governments have failures.

            I'd say that all governments make mistakes. The failure only comes if they fail to learn from those mistakes.

            Kiwibuild is a learning opportunity. Now lets see if Labour learns from it or not before it becomes a failure.

            National doesn't learn from their mistakes and will package the same ideology up in new language to get elected and then do the same thing again.

      • observer 3.2.3

        A good guide is always the "Right/Wrong track question".

        FYI: 72% say NZ is on the right track (Morgan poll, today).

        Take a look outside the echo chamber, listen to the voters.

      • Brigid 3.2.4

        Mammoth failures?

        Care to list Nationals? We'll see how they compare.

        • Paddington 3.2.4.1

          Yep, we could list failures for both major political parties in government. To claim otherwise isn't very bright.

      • RosieLee 3.2.5

        Please be specific. Where's the evidence?

  4. Anker 4

    James latest Roy Morgan has labour greens on 65%. Just saying

  5. McFlock 5

    And so it comes to this: "be kind" vs "dirty politics".

    Oh well, at least it will stem the flow of nutbars towards ACT. She might lose a few in the other direction, though.

    • James 5.1

      Also substance (Collins) vs slogans (Ardern).

      looking forward to Collins holding her to account for all the bullshit like kiwibuild, light rail etc

      • Incognito 5.1.1

        I see, you’re listing National’s policy platform: crush them, crush them hard, crush them so hard they don’t know what crushed them. You’d be a shoo-in for Matthew’s job.

      • In Vino 5.1.2

        What substance? How many cars did 'Crusher' actually crush? None. Then she got into Oravida, etc, and was deservedly demoted. No substance, only empty bravado.

        • Veritas 5.1.2.1

          Ann Tolley crushed one. Another national party disastrous, catastrophic, homophobic, profifa failure!

      • Sean Carroll 5.1.3

        More Oravida dirtiness coming up I guess.

      • Just Is 5.1.4

        James, the only people who listen to Collins are people like you, sorry to tell you this, but you're in a very small minority at the moment and Collins is likely to shrink it some more

        • RedBaronCV 5.1.4.1

          I'm not sure that the people who like Collins listen to her. I've always felt that they appreciated the photo's more – like the ones standing on the car in high heels.
          I think they’re crushin’ on Judith

          • woodart 5.1.4.1.1

            yes. collins appeals to the same sort of men that go for women like pauline hanson , margeret thatcher. like the strict women, its a real conservative hangup.

            • RedBaronCV 5.1.4.1.1.1

              Yes hang up is a good way to put it. But I do wonder if Judith should accessorise a little more to increase that appeal.

      • McFlock 5.1.5

        Kiwibuild is obviously the most memorable and important policy or event over the last 2.5 years, yes.

        Lucky there are such scandals – any discussion of character leaves Collins looking like a kauri log exported as a finished piece of furniture.

      • anker 5.1.6

        James that is possibly the most ridiculous thing I have every heard. Why do you think NZders are outrage when people abscond from isolation??? Because we are determined to keep our covid free status, we are proud of it and it has allowed our economy to recover quickly. This is what matters most to people now……they don't really give a flying f..k about kiwibuild……….Anyway Labour have built more houses in this term than any other govt since the 70's……

        Really James you are not worth replying too.

      • anker 5.1.7

        Collins "only National has the skills and experience to get us through this". First lie.

        Do they think NZders are dumb. Labour and Ardern have just got us through the biggest crisis this country has ever faced. They have done so spectacularly well. Even the WHO praises us. Has Judith been asleep for the last few months?

        I would have thought they realized how ridiculous "the best team" sounded. They have looked like the very worst team ever throughout the Covid crisis. And they are

      • Gabby 5.1.8

        How many car sdid Joodee Covid crush?

  6. mickysavage 7

    Spare a thought for occasional Standard reader Matthew Hooton. His parliamentary services career is no more.

  7. Lettuce 8

    "All aboard the Oravida Express! Next stop Beijing."

  8. Tiger Mountain 9

    JuDarth!

    Nicky Hager’s “Dirty Politics”, and a few pics of Crusher with her once bestie Mr Slater should prompt a few memories-and not of the pleasant kind.

    Labour just needs to stay on message-“we will keep a lid on Covid, do you really trust National to do the same?”

    • Robert Guyton 9.1

      Judith & Cameron, up in a tree…

      Those photos are damning…

      Slater, Slater, Slater!!!

  9. Treetop 10

    Probably will be the pinnacle of Collin's political career.

  10. Dennis Frank 11

    Don Brash just told Newshub "I'm very pleased." He also told listeners to the live stream that Judith's parents were both Labour voters.

    Tova has just confirmed Brownlee is deputy.

    • lprent 11.1

      Ok – so we have the very old guard…

      I can’t see a better contrast to put on the idiot box.

    • weka 11.2

      wow. They really haven't learned their lesson.

    • Incognito 11.3

      So, it is Judith with Gerry, Tova doing the PR & marketing, and David the internal polling and Social Media. Does that make Tova the emotional junior staffer?

  11. observer 12

    Don Brash on Newshub, delighted with Collins.

    What an endorsement, he's got his finger on the pulse of 2020 NZ. (/sarc)

  12. Sean Carroll 13

    I am concerned that she will be caught with her hands in the till again.

    • RedBaronCV 13.1

      Well she won't resign and now there is no one to fire her. She will just brazen it out.

      But I can see this being the last straw for a lot of women voters who are likely to quit national. Rather as women voters disliked Brash.

  13. Robert Guyton 14

    "That’s Concentration Camp Guard mentality: bringing someone into the Leadership now such as Collins, who always played Dirty Politics at as much arms length as possible, to appear by default more “responsible”, is utter lunacy if that’s what the Party is actually contemplating at this point:"

    https://exhalantblog.wordpress.com/2020/07/14/get-a-grip-nz-muller-imploding-the-national-party-in-on-itself-is-utterly-predictable/

    • Just Is 14.1

      It looks very much like the party are going to double down.

      This appointment of Collins is a clear indicator of why Muller has retired.

  14. Robert Guyton 15

    It's the China connection that'll sink her. Jian Yang pulled out for a reason…

  15. observer 16

    I'm not much of a believer these days, but I'm thanking the Almighty for Gerry Brownlee.

    What were they thinking?

    • Robert Guyton 16.1

      Gerry's solid. And Christchurch owes its very existence to him (he's magic at airports).

    • georgecom 16.2

      National, the party of fresh thinking and promoting exciting new talent

      Never fear National supporters, Chris Luxon is on his way

      • anker 16.2.1

        It will be a shit fight next term with Judith still leader and Luxton wanting the leadership he is entitled to

  16. Drowsy M. Kram 17

    The Nats will stay their ‘partisan politics‘ course under Crusher's leadership – BAD losers. Amazingly they really don't seem to have a clue as to why their brand is so badly tainted.

  17. In Vino 18

    9 weeks are a long time in politics, especially with hostile news media.

    • Incognito 18.1

      Good one, I had to think about it.

      • weka 18.1.1

        how so?

        • Incognito 18.1.1.1

          The media are not hostile towards JC at all, they love and adore her. The fawning is nauseating.

          • weka 18.1.1.1.1

            ah, so interpreting In Vino's comment as being about the left/Labour?

            • Pete George 18.1.1.1.1.1

              It could as easily be said 'The media are not hostile towards JA at all, they love and adore her'.

              Nausea is in the eye of the partisan.

              Media tend to reward competence with handling the media.

              • weka

                Competence being a good reason to love her esp this year of course, but I don't see it as being too different from Key. Nearer the end of her term as Labour leader I'm sure they will be going after her too.

                The value in what IV said is that left shouldn't be cocky right now. We saw how fast things changed for Labour in 2017.

              • Incognito

                Nausea is in the eye of the partisan.

                No, Pete, non-partisans are also nauseated by it. I thought you were non-partisan but maybe I did get that wrong!?

            • Incognito 18.1.1.1.1.2

              yes

  18. Dennis Frank 19

    JC: "I think it's important to give credit where it's due" – and earlier mentioned that she started out as a Labour voter. GB: thanked Newshub for announcing he'd got it before the caucus voted, "I found that encouraging." Got a big laugh.

    JC: "We are here to support Todd and his family." She said `we're going to take back the country' twice. "Our team is better than their team." "She's got three ministers who she's got confidence in, and that's it."

    • I Feel Love 19.1

      So Attack Attack Attack.

      • Dennis Frank 19.1.1

        Yeah, looks relaxed & comfortable with the gung ho attitude. Will rally the troops, may pull back some of the drifting centrists, but it's whatever substance she can provide to back up that attitude that really counts.

        Partisan stances just aren't adequate really. No problem with her pointing out Labour's mistakes & inadequacies, but voters actually want more than just that, and I haven't seen any evidence that she has learnt that lesson.

        • I Feel Love 19.1.1.1

          Least there's a contrast, she's like a cartoon character, she's gonna say some barmy things, already "we're going to take back the country!", well that sounds inclusive doesn't it?

        • Paddington 19.1.1.2

          Never underestimate the fickleness of NZ voters, Dennis.

    • Incognito 19.2

      Never thought Gerry was a leaker!

    • Craig H 19.3

      Not sure who the three ministers are since the PM clearly has confidence in more than three – she is probably referring to Robertson, Hipkins, Woods, but Little is clearly another (for example).

  19. Just Is 20

    Wasn't Collins on 2% in the leadership stakes a few weeks ago.

    Nothing like having a popular leader

  20. Ovid 21

    They say,
    Todd Muller's yielding his power and stepping away

    Is that true? I wasn't aware that was something a person could do

    I'm perplexed. Are they going to keep on replacing whoever's in charge?
    If so who's next?
    There's nobody else in their party who looms quite as large

    [whispers]

    [Spoken]
    Judith and Gerry?

    I know them
    That can't be
    That's that pair I saw on TV all those years ago
    Where was it, the Beehive?
    That poor party they'll eat them alive

    Oceans rise, empires fall
    Next to Ardern they all look small
    All alone watch them run
    They will tear each other in to pieces Jesus Christ this will be fun

    Da da da da da
    Da da da da daye da
    Da da da da daye da
    [laughs]

    [Spoken]
    Judith & Gerry
    Good luck!

  21. Pat 22

    back to the future it is then….there will be no unpleasant surprises that those two havnt anticipated to cause them to question themselves.

  22. observer 23

    That Collins press conference was weird.

    She repeated the line "take back the country". And I'm sure she knows what that phrase represents. Yuk.

  23. anker 24

    The country is not there's to take actually………..

  24. Ben 25

    Fascinating. I just wandered back through this alley again and the usual resident suspects are still reinforcing their entrenched tribal views. A comforting space for some, although it must get a tad claustrophobic.

    • observer 25.1

      O wise one, we await your sermon of enlightenment.

      • Ben 25.1.1

        What topic would enlighten you, young student?

        • observer 25.1.1.1

          The foolishness of us mere mortals who in our shameful ignorance, think National are self-destructing … on the basis of, you know, all the evidence, every day.

          • Ben 25.1.1.1.1

            Please do not feel shame “observer”. An observer should not feel shame.

            • Drowsy M. Kram 25.1.1.1.1.1

              Ben, "You must go to the Dagobah system", AKA Kiwiblog.

              "Game On!" "This will excite a lot of National supporters and activists."

              laugh Hahahahahahahahahaha laugh

              Seriously, perhaps could you enlighten me as to why the Nat caucus don't seem to have a clue about why their brand is so badly tainted. Or are your 'lessons' pay-to-view only?

    • Incognito 25.2

      Yeah, I wondered how you wormed your way back here. You said some nasty stuff when you were banned for two days and yet here you are trolling again. Nobody is enforcing anything here but we do like to keep the place clean & tidy and pest-free especially with the election looming. How long is a piece of string?

  25. bloke 26

    its a win for Beijing and milkpowder, its a win for slater too but RX-7’s all over our fair isles are worried

  26. Brian Tregaskin 27

    Id rate Collins/Brownlee chances of improving Nationals fortune in the next few weeks as practically zero . Two old school Nats from the old guard whose time has come and gone. The day after the election we will see the headlines "Its Ardens Time"

  27. Bloke 28

    Great to see fresh thinking, new faces and a vision of 1963 (with a milky eastern light shining upon fogeys both young and old)

  28. Peter 29

    I get it. Kurt Taogaga has been removed from the Labour's Party candidate list after tweets he made seven years ago resurfaced.

    Judith Collins, guilty of unethical scummy behaviour while a Minister six years ago gets to be the leader of her party.

    Yeah, I can see how that's reasonable. We need a Lincoln Project series of ads about Collins.

  29. Anker 30
    • By the way Ben is not worth engaging with imo everyone
  30. Fireblade 31

    Judith and Gerry will invigorate the National Party with their fresh faces, youthful exuberance and exiting new ideas.

  31. Descendant Of Smith 32

    My fascist right wing friends are going hooray when they were pretty meh about the last two leaders so Collins clearly appeals to a certain group of mainly male party supporters. They've been quiet for a while but are posting all over the place now. Clearly excited.

    After the collapse of the Boag faction within the National Party (remember she ousted John Slater as National Party President) playing loose with citizen data then the Collins faction had to be the dominant group within the Party.

    Neither is any cleaner than the other but both factions have hated each other for years.

    I'm picking National will pick up in the polls – Collins was much more aligned with that nice man John Key and National voters will appreciate that and see her as a return to normality and away from experimentation with lightweights. After the last two leaders Collins with all her experience will be seen as solid. Any lift in the polls will encourage a further lift.

    Collins is the only choice they could have made to stop their slide. The two previous leaders have cleaned out some of the more toxic MP's from the public perspective so she won't have to do the same bloodletting.

    I may dislike all the individuals concerned but I'm not a National voter so my mates opinions are more likely a better indicator than the bad taste in my mouth at seeing these two back.

    • McFlock 32.1

      If they're really right wing, it means they'll be less tempted to vote for the gun-totin' ACT.

      Collins tried to put on a nice face for a couple of years, but I don't think it'll stick. Your fascist friends don't seem to believe it.

      Stuff that attracts flies tends to repel bees, sort of thing. I doubt it would increase Labgrn vote, but it might make nats less likely to vote.

    • RedBaronCV 32.2

      Yes unlike the Uk we don't need a Boris and a Dom when we have Judith.

      Women don't like Judith – she's likely to turn out about as many of them as ACT does. namely none.

  32. Maurice 33

    They know that with Arden leading Labour/Greens the right are on a hiding to nothing

    This means that they know that they MUST "knobble" Jacinda ….

    We have not seen "dirty politics" ….. yet …

    It is about to get very very ugly.

  33. Incognito 34

    I take it Judith has cancelled the remainder of her book promotion tour?

  34. UncookedSelachimorpha 35

    Draining the swamp! Of kauri.

  35. Fireblade 36

    National is still a shambles. Contragulations Judith.

    https://www.twitter.com/danielfarrellnz/status/1282972806922158080

  36. Incognito 37

    I think the Nat Party website is under construction.

  37. lurgee 38

    Mickysavage has – of course – a long an ignoble history of being pretty much wrong about everything, so we might as well start practicing saying "Prime Minister Collins."

    Collins makes me nervous. She's got nothing to lose and the scruples of a rabid wolverine. She can say pretty much anything and promise pretty much anything in the knowledge she'll either succeed in preventing a National wipe out or it won’t matter in the slightest.

    Either way, it’ll be brutal.

    And then – if the wipe out is averted – she can sit back for three more years, sniping at Labour, exploiting every stuff up and failure (and they will come, oh boy will they come) and generally have a great time being Leader of the Opposition on a mission to wreck Labour's second term.

    And if she – and her ilk – ever gets hands on the levers of power, God help us all.

    • swordfish 38.1

      Mickysavage has – of course – a long an ignoble history of being pretty much wrong about everything, so we might as well start practicing saying "Prime Minister Collins."

      I'd forgotten you were a barrel of laughs, lurgee.

      Still, lifelong support of Partick Thistle must induce a certain grim fatalism in the psyche.

  38. Brian Tregaskin 39

    "

    Mickysavage has – of course – a long an ignoble history of being pretty much wrong about everything, so we might as well start practicing saying "Prime Minister Collins."

    Collins makes me nervous. She's got nothing to lose and the scruples of a rabid wolverine. She can say pretty much anything and promise pretty much anything in the knowledge she'll either succeed in preventing a National wipe out or it won’t matter in the slightest.

    Either way, it’ll be brutal.

    And then – if the wipe out is averted – she can sit back for three more years, sniping at Labour, exploiting every stuff up and failure (and they will come, oh boy will they come) and generally have a great time being Leader of the Opposition on a mission to wreck Labour's second term.

    And if she – and her ilk – ever gets hands on the levers of power, God help us all."

    Unless there is Judithmania for the remainder this week (First 48 hours is critical) you wont see a dramatic lift in the polls for National (if any) between now and September. All that is likely to happen is some Act voters will return to National and those middle ground voters will stick with Labour.

    But…..If Judithmania happens in next 48 hours its all on!!! You heard it first here first baby!

  39. Plc 40

    You sound scared….welcome to the jungle!

  40. Brian Tregaskin 41

    Most like instead of "Judithmania" we will see the mantra "Granny State" with a Collins/Bownlee duo with those two old farts

  41. Cinny 42

    If gerry and judith are the answer, the question must be…who plays dirty politics?

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  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    6 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    7 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    8 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    22 hours ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    1 day ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    1 day ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • AT Need To Lift Their Game
    Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
    6 days ago
  • Christopher's Whopper.
    Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
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    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
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    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
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    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
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    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
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    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
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    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
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    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
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    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
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    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
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    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
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    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
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    5 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
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    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
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    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
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    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
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    7 days ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
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    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
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    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
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    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
    Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
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    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
    Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
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    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
    Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity
    This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti.  Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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